I have a small sign taped to my wall at work that provides various answers to an unknown question. They include lines like “You can’t stop it,” “It’s beginning,” or “It hasn’t yet begun.” There is an arrow pointing to one specific answer that proclaims, “It’s happening.” That is exactly how I feel about connected and automated vehicles. While there has been considerable debate in the industry and posts to the ITE e-Community about the testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads, as an organization we need to be engaged and ready to respond to this fast-moving area of transportation.
Your car may already employ lower levels of autonomous features, such as lane-assist to keep your car from inadvertently leaving the driving lane when you get distracted or drowsy, or automatic breaking to prevent an impending rear-end collision when you are approaching another vehicle too fast. Technology is ever-evolving. Reaching full autonomy won’t be like flipping a switch. Instead, it will emerge as a gradual introduction of technology as car companies and others active in this market introduce innovations. There’s no question that this gradual release of technology is, in and of itself, a cause for concern, and calls for a comprehensive dialogue on safety, infrastructure, and signage. More standardization will be needed for the period between today and full autonomy.
The better question to ask rather than “When will autonomous vehicles become a reality?” is “Where and what autonomous vehicles will become a reality?” This technology is expected to be visible in highly urbanized areas first, where there is a greater societal impact of autonomous vehicles on mobility, rather than being deployed in sparsely-populated rural areas. Likewise, specific states like California in the United States and the province of Ontario in Canada have legislated the testing of fully autonomous vehicles on public roads. Such locations, as a result, are likely to be front-runners for adoption and greater integration of driverless technology.
For me, the exciting part is seeing how autonomous vehicles impact society—the future may look different than one would think. Some scenarios are currently playing out around the world today. Harvesting of the world’s crops is already being done by GPS equipment on large combines, and the likelihood of needing a human driver in the future will be small. The mining industry is already using some of the largest autonomous dump trucks in the world for hauling material out of deep excavation pits. The commercial trucking industry is also highly involved in autonomous vehicle research. Think of the cost and safety benefits when hauling goods without the need for a driver. An interim scenario for increasing loads may include having a traditional semi-trailer as the lead vehicle being followed by a driverless connected vehicle.
Whatever the future holds, ITE members are actively involved in shaping our world when it comes to connected and autonomous vehicles. ITE recently updated its position statement on the testing and use of these vehicles. ITE members are also providing valuable input on the connected vehicle architecture as an open platform and examining crash avoidance metrics as part of U.S. Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiatives. For more on ITE’s offerings around this topic, check out the feature by ITE Transportation Technology Senior Director, Siva Narla and ITE Journal Senior Editor, Holly Stowell on page 28. These initiatives work in tandem with our Transportation and Health ITE Initiative and efforts to promote Vision Zero. Whether you personally like the idea of being transported around in an autonomous vehicle or not, there is one thing for sure—“It’s happening.”
This blog post is from the President's Message in the March 2019 issue of ITE Journal.